Charlotte Jorgensen - Professional Dancer

From the official site:

ACHIEVEMENTS:

1999 US Open Champion
1998 Japanese Open International Ballroom Champion
1999 US open Champion
1997 2nd at the United Kingdom, British, World and European Championships
1994 Amateur World Champion
1994 Professional Rising Star champion at Blackpool

Charlotte is partnering actor and comedian John O'Hurley - aka J.Peterman on Seinfeld.

BACKGROUND:

Charlotte grew up in Denmark, and as was customary she started dance classes at the age of 2 (most Danish children attend dance classes to help them achieve poise and manners). Both her mother and sister were keen dancers.

At the age of 10, Charlotte took up ballet and was instantly hooked. From that day she never questioned her future - Charlotte knew that dancing was the only thing she ever wanted to do.

Originally Charlotte wanted a dance career on the stage in the West End or on Broadway, so she moved to London at 18 to pursue her dream.

However Charlotte soon discovered ballroom and Latin dancing, and within three years was an Amateur Ten Dance Champion. By the age of 22 she was World Amateur Champion. In 1994, after winning the Amateur World Championships, Charlotte turned professional, and that same year won the Professional Rising Star at the prestigious Blackpool competition.

DANCING:

Charlotte is an internationally renowned dancer. She is considered to be one of the best ballroom dancers ever. During the summer of 2003 Charlotte was chosen by Richard Gere to be his dance instructor for the film Shall We Dance. She also partly taught Jennifer Lopez.

In addition to ballroom, Charlotte is experienced in several dance disciplines - jazz, ballet, modern and tap.

In 1997, Charlotte started dancing with Andrew Sinkinson. Together, they went on to place second at the United Kingdom, the British, the World and the European Championships.

Charlotte believes her biggest achievements were never the results; it was always about being true to the dancing.

I just saw Mad Hot Ballroom this weekend. Fantastic movie!! I highly recommend everyone see it. Its a documentary about ball room dancing taught in the New York City public school system.

Why am I posting this on the Charlotta thread? Because she is spotted at the end of the movie as one of the professional judges for the finals. She definately looked a bit younger without all the makeup on and seemed to genuinely be enjoying the kids dancing.